The employment relationship
This chapter explores the nature of the employment relationship and the creation of a
climate of trust within that relationship.
THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP DEFINED
The term employment relationship describes the interconnections that exist between
employers and employees in the workplace. These may be formal, eg contracts of
employment, procedural agreements. Or they may be informal, in the shape of the
psychological contract, which expresses certain assumptions and expectations about
what managers and employer have to offer and are willing to deliver (Kessler and
Undy, 1996). They can have an individual dimension, which refers to individual
contracts and expectations, or a collective dimension, which refers to relationships
between management and trade unions, staff associations or members of joint consul-
tative bodies such as works councils.
NATURE OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP
The dimensions of the employment relationship as described by Kessler and Undy
(1996) are shown in Figure 15.1.
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